AN: I feel like the last several AN's have started with me apologizing for how long it's taken to update and this one is no different :( I really am sorry. To be honest, morning sickness and first-trimester exhaustion have been kicking my butt.

But at least I finally have something done now. It's short, but better than nothing. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story and left reviews, followed, and favorited it. You have no idea how much it means to me!

Thanks, as always, to Freyja-luna for beta'ing for me and hopefully, it won't be too long before the next chapter is posted.

Chapter 48

Remus hesitated just in front of the stone gargoyles. He wondered how long he could stand there before his father was alerted to his presence. Better yet, if he could just walk away without anyone ever knowing he had been there in the first place.

But that had never worked for him before. Somehow, Albus Dumbledore always knew when one of his sons needed to talk or when one of them was stalling.

With a sigh, Remus decided that he may as well just get it over with and he gave the password: "Raspberry Tarts."

The gargoyles lept aside and Remus moved to the circular staircase that brought him right to the headmaster's door.

Before he could knock, he heard, "Come in, Remus."

He frowned and went inside. Albus was sitting behind his desk, reading from a very large book. When he saw Remus, he smiled brightly and closed it before folding his hands on top of. An overstuffed chair appeared in front of his desk.

"What's bothering you?"

"Am I that easy to read?" Remus asked before taking a seat.

"I just know you too well."

Remus gave a half-smile. "Maybe I should start with the news that will be the least disappointing?"

Albus held his hand out in invitation for Remus to start and he did so reluctantly.

"I'm not going to teach next year."

"Oh?" Albus tilted his head to the side and asked, "What do you intend to do?"

"I want to use this summer to go back to St. Mungo's and get recertified so that I can be a counselor for children and teenagers. I thought," Remus went on sounding uncertain, "that if it was alright with you, I could come back here and be a school counselor for Hogwarts."

A brilliant smile lit up Albus's face. "What a marvelous idea! Merlin knows that we could use one!"

Remus's smile was hesitant as he shifted in his chair. "You're alright with it then? With finding a new teacher and all?"

"Of course. Of course." Albus waved away his worries. "It's not as if I've never had to search for a teacher before, you know."

Remus only nodded before falling silent once more.

"I'm sure you'll feel better once you get it off your chest," Albus said after a moment.

"I doubt that very much." But Remus reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out the map before unfolding it and spreading it out on top of Albus's desk.

"What am I looking at Remus?"

With a sigh, Remus tapped the map and uttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Immediately, spidery webs of ink began to crawl across the parchment as Albus and Remus both watched in silence.

"This," he said once the map was complete, "is the Marauders' Map. It shows every single person that is in the school or on the grounds." Then, as if the words pained him greatly to say, he went on, "It's how you'll catch Sirius."

Albus was leaning over the map, studying it intently. "But how did you get it?"

"I made it," Remus answered quietly. "With James, Sirius, and Peter while we were students here."

This bit of information caused Albus to snap his head up. "You've had this the entire time?"

"No! I only just got it back. Filch confiscated it from us years ago but he didn't know how to work it and I hadn't given it much thought over the years." He paused. "Until I caught Harry with it on Saturday. I know I should have brought it to your attention immediately," he rushed to explain, "but something Harry said kept me from doing so."

"And what was that?" Albus asked, his tone sharper than he'd intended for it to be.

"Peter Pettigrew." Remus sighed and stood up to pace in front of the desk. "He said he saw Peter's name on the Map but that's just not possible. Peter died. Sirius killed him. There were witnesses that swear to it!"

"And yet you have trouble believing it?"

Remus narrowed his eyes. "Of course I have trouble believing it! I've always had trouble believing it because it's never made any sense! And the Map can't be wrong! There's only one explanation of how Harry could have seen Peter's name on that Map. Peter must be alive. But how?!"

"Are you absolutely certain that the Map can't be wrong?" Albus asked, glancing down at it once more.

"I'm positive." Then Remus slumped back down into his chair. "But I will admit that I have not actually seen his name there for myself."

"So perhaps Harry is mistaken."

"Maybe," Remus replied, his voice sounding defeated. "But I just don't think so."

After a moment, Albus nodded.

"I suppose we will simply have to wait and see. In any case, I will let Severus know in the morning that we have this Map."

Remus didn't answer. He only stared down at his clasped hands as if weighing his next words very carefully. "There's more."

"More?"

Remus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "They— that is, James, Peter, and Sirius, I mean— they became animagi during our fifth year. They wanted to be there for me during the full moon and that was the only way. We… we would roam the forest together." Remus chanced a glance up at his adopted father and the stony silence he received in return was more than enough to have him ducking his head once again, though he rushed to try and explain. "I know it was stupid, and I know that I should have told you, especially after everything that happened. And I'm sorry that I didn't. I really am, but you have to understand I—"

Remus broke off and Albus stood to his feet.

"You what, Remus? What am I to understand from this? That there were three unregistered animagi students here at Hogwarts and every month they all had a grand time galavanting around the forest, in order to what? To keep you company? Remus, I know that I don't need to tell you how absolutely dangerous that was."

Remus didn't offer a single word in defense.

"Not only was it dangerous for them, but for the other students! For you! What would have happened if you had broken away from them? Would you have killed someone? What would that have done to you?!"

"I'm sorry," Remus quietly said.

"You should be." Albus took another moment before returning to his seat. "What is Sirius's animagus form?" he asked with a sigh.

"A dog."

"James and Peter?"

"A stag and a rat."

Albus was quiet for a long while before he said, "I do not see how I could tell the Ministry about this without bringing you into it. You would be questioned. They would demand to know why you didn't say something sooner. Other secrets would no doubt come out."

Remus nodded, inwardly thankful despite knowing that if word of him being a werewolf was to come out, it would be no one's fault but his own.

"Severus will have to know though."

"I know," Remus agreed miserably. "He'll never forgive me for this. It put Harry at risk. If Sirius really is after him—"

"There will be none of this self-pitying nonsense," Albus interrupted with a shake of his head. "I will talk to Severus and explain it all to him. I'm sure that it will take some time, but the two of you will get past this."

Remus didn't believe him, but he nodded anyway.

They sat there for a long time after that while Albus asked questions and Remus answered him honestly. By the time he had gone back to his quarters, he was exhausted and ready for this nightmarish day to be over with.

Down in the Slytherin Common Room, Draco was also exhausted. But instead of closing his Transfiguration text and going to bed, he forced himself to keep studying despite the fact that he'd read the same paragraph several times and still didn't know what it had been about.

A few students at a table across from him were talking quietly with their heads together. A couple of times Draco thought he saw them looking at him out of the corner of his eyes, but when he turned to look at them, they immediately quieted and looked away.

He tried to ignore them. It wasn't as if this hadn't been happening for the last couple of weeks now anyway. Ever since Snape had announced his intention of adopting Harry and thereby renouncing himself as a follower of the Dark Lord, the Slytherins had been treating him differently. He knew that at least a few of the older students were likely the ones telling their parents, who had told Lucius, that Draco had been seen still associating with Snape and Harry. And those in his year who he would normally study with were suddenly busy doing other things; even Crabbe and Goyle had slowly stopped hanging around him.

As if Draco cared about any of them. He had meant what he'd told Snape and Harry that night; it wasn't up to his father to decide how he lived his life and who he spent his time with. If he wanted to disown him for that, then so be it. Draco had made his decision and Lucius Malfoy would just have to live with it. He was already thinking of ways to get Snape to let him spend the whole summer with him at the Manor, and if it worked out, maybe he wouldn't have to see his father at all.

A moment later, Draco was pulled from his thoughts as Daphne Greengrass sat down across from him, dropping her bag onto the table between them.

"Do I look like I want company, Greengrass?" Draco asked snidely.

Daphne rolled her eyes and sat about taking a book from her bag. "Is that why no one is sitting with you? Because you don't want company?"

"I don't need them or anyone else."

"Clearly," she replied.

"Daphne?" Astoria, Daphne's younger sister, walked up to the table but didn't look in Draco's direction. "I thought we were studying by the fireplace. I don't want to sit with him."

Before Daphne could answer, Draco said, "How about you both leave?"

Astoria ignored him. "Daphne—"

"I'm studying with Draco, Tori," Daphne said firmly.

Astoria huffed and stomped away back towards the couches by the fireplace.

"She's not your biggest fan," Daphne said with a shrug as she opened her book to an ear-marked page and began to read.

"Tell her to join the club, then," Draco spat back. "I couldn't care less what some first-year thought of me."

"At least it's not for the same ridiculous reason that all these other half-brains have."

"Yeah? And what reason does she have then? What could I have possibly done to upset the sensibilities of precious baby Astoria?"

Daphne looked up from her book to glare at Draco. "What you did was get that hippogriff sentenced to be executed when we all know it was your own fault! You heard Hagrid say how to handle him and you went and acted like a prat anyway. Then you faked that injured arm to get sympathy from everyone."

"What does she care about that bloody animal for anyway?"

"She happens to care about all animals and she for one knows how to treat them. And aside from that, she really likes Hagrid. She helps him in his garden sometimes."

Draco opened his mouth to say something else but Daphne didn't give him a chance. "And if I were you, I wouldn't let her hear you calling her a 'precious baby' either. She might be a first-year, but she can already do a wicked Jelly-legs Jinx."

Draco didn't respond to that. Instead, he went back to trying to study. All the while unwelcome thoughts of the hippogriff swam around in his brain. It had seemed so long ago that he had nearly forgotten about it. He had known that the Ministry had decided to execute it, but he hadn't given it much thought. With everything else that had been going on, it hadn't seemed very important.

And truthfully, Draco still wasn't sure that it was. It was just an animal. That's what his father would say. Just a beast that was of no consequence to them, and yet, he couldn't help but wonder what Snape thought about it.

He really didn't have to wonder much because he already knew. Snape had already pulled him aside when it had first happened and told him to stop carrying on as he had been and to tell the truth, but Draco had stubbornly declared that he wasn't lying and that Snape didn't have any right to say otherwise.

Snape had taken twenty points from Slytherin for his cheek and told him he was disappointed in him. Though Draco had pretended that Snape's words hadn't bothered him, in reality, they had stung quite a bit.

With a sigh, Draco shut his textbook and shoved it back in his bag before standing up and going to his dormitory.

The next afternoon, Harry was lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling while Severus graded papers.

"I'm bored."

"You're grounded," Severus replied without looking up. "You're supposed to be bored. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a punishment."

"I bet Grandad Albus never forced you to just sit around with him when you got into trouble."

Ever since Harry had begun calling Severus 'dad,' he had been trying out new names for Albus and Minerva. Only when it was just him and Severus though. He still wasn't sure he was comfortable calling Albus 'Grandad' or Minerva 'Gramma' to their face though. What if they didn't want him to?! He didn't think he could stand the embarrassment. He had let Remus hear him call him Uncle though and that hadn't been so bad. In fact, Remus had smiled so brightly that Harry was sure he had made his day.

"No, he didn't. He sent me to my room. Would you like to go there?"

Harry glared at him but wisely kept any further comments to himself.

"Dinner will be ready in about an hour," Severus said, finally looking up. "Then after you eat, you and Draco will have detention with Mr. Filch. I'm sure you won't be bored then."

"Da-ad," Harry whined.

"Harry."

"That's not—"

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a knock at the door. "Enter," Severus called out just before Dumbledore walked into the parlor.

"Ah," he said with a bright smile, "it's nice to see you both together. I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Of course not, Dad," Severus answered at the same time that Harry grumbled something unintelligible. Severus gave him a look but Harry ignored him in favor of slouching further into the couch cushions.

"Severus," Albus started as he came to stand beside the couch to place a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder, "if you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with you alone."

Harry instantly perked up, "I could go up and eat with Ron and Hermione."

Severus shook his head. "I'm sure that won't be necessary—"

"Actually, Severus, that might be a good idea. I have a feeling we could be a while and I wouldn't want young Harry to miss dinner."

Severus sighed but eventually relented. "To the Great Hall and then straight to detention and back. And don't think you're going to make a habit out of this young man. Part of your grounding was that you would eat dinner down here with me and that's not going to change."

"I know," Harry agreed, eager to escape the confines of their quarters, even if it was only for dinner and detention.

"Alright, go on then."

Harry jumped up and with a quick wave to Severus and Albus, he was out the door.

As Albus had predicted, he and Severus had indeed talked for quite a while and by the time they were done, Severus was furiously marching towards Remus's quarters. Without bothering to knock, he flung open the door and walked inside. When he didn't immediately find the other man, he called out for him. "Remus!"

Only a few seconds later, Remus came out of the bathroom, leaning heavily against the wall for support. "What is it, Severus?" he asked, his voice sounding strained even to his own ears.

Normally seeing his brother so obviously weak from the effects of the looming full moon would have caused Severus's anger to fizzle out, but today was not a normal day.

"You knew?!" he accused. "All this time that Black has been out and you knew all along how he'd escaped?! How could you keep that to yourself? How could you not tell someone?"

"Severus, you have every reason to be angry," Remus said with a sigh as he came fully into the parlor.

"He got into the castle, Remus! He was in his dormitory! One bed away! And even then you didn't tell anyone! Were you protecting him?!"

"No!" Remus shook his head. "I would never have done that! But you have to believe me when I say that I didn't know he could still shift. I thought that his time in Azkaban would have left him without magic."

"Well, you were certainly wrong about that!"

"Severus, I—"

"And what of this map? You helped make a map that can show anyone in the castle and you didn't think it would be wise to mention it?"

Remus could feel his own temper flaring as he glared at Severus. "I told dad and I'll tell you now that I hadn't thought about that map in years! I wasn't even sure it hadn't been destroyed. I only remembered it when I saw Harry with it the day he went to Hogsmeade."

"And yet you couldn't be bothered to tell us about it then? You waited nearly three days! Were you hoping you would see him on it so that you could run to his aide?"

"You know that I wasn't! If anything, I would have tried to bring him in myself!"

"Right," Severus spat, "as if you ever thought he was guilty in the first place."

Remus's fists were clenched tightly at his sides and he took several deep breaths as he tried to calm himself, but Severus's next words hit him too hard.

"You need to figure out where your loyalty lies, Remus! Because it's clear now that it's not with Harry, whom you claim to love!"

Remus didn't think he'd consciously done it, but the next thing he knew, his fist was flying through the air and connecting squarely with Severus's jaw.

An hour after dinner was over, Harry and Draco were both on their hands and knees as they scrubbed the floor of an unused classroom on the fifth floor. Filch had brought them up and given them clear instructions that the room was to be so clean that it shined by the time their detention was over, and then promptly sat down with his feet propped up on the desk and pulled out a tabloid with the Queen's face on the cover.

For the most part, Harry and Draco worked in silence, only speaking when they had to ask for something to be passed to them or to comment on their work. Filch mumbled from time to time about the article he'd been reading, but whenever he noticed either of the boys taking even a slight breather, he would suddenly become completely alert and yell at them to get back to work.

They were only about halfway finished with the floor when they first heard the sounds of Peeves in the hallway. Harry and Draco both looked towards the door, but Filch was already standing up to inspect the disruption.

He opened the door and Peeves flew in, turning end over end as he yelled, "A fight! A fight!"

"Students fighting?" Filch said. "I'll catch them this time!"

"Not the students," Peeves sang, finally sitting upright in the air. He pointed towards the hallway. "Professors Snapey and Loopy!"

Harry and Draco looked at each other, stunned, and wasted no time in following Peeves and Filch out of the classroom and down the hallway towards Remus's quarters.

As soon as they opened the door that led to Remus's parlor, Harry's jaw nearly dropped. Remus and Severus were indeed in the middle of an all-out fight and neither had noticed that they now had an audience.

"Professors!" Filch yelled as Peeves cackled high above them.

"Dad!"

"Uncle Severus!"

Hearing Harry and Draco, both men immediately broke apart and they all stared at one another until Peeves broke the silence, "Ooh! Won't Professorhead be angry at you! Naughty, naughty! I'll let him know!"

With that, Peeves zoomed out of the room laughing.